Maya case should go on,
says SCTaj Corridor: Special
Judge to decide on chargesheetNew Delhi, November 27In a major setback to BSP
supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in the Rs 175-crore
Taj Heritage Corridor scam, the Supreme Court today rejected the CBI Director’s
report for closing the case and directed the agency to submit the entire
material to the Special Judge, Lucknow, to decide independently whether
prosecution should be launched against her and other accused persons.

The court rejected the CBI
Director’s report based on Attorney-General Milon Banerjee’s opinion for
closing the case, saying that the matter should have not been referred
to the latter by the agency’s chief without first giving his own opinion,
specially when the entire investigating team, headed by an officer of the
rank of SP unanimously had opined that a case was made for filing of the
charge sheet against the accused persons.

A three-judge Bench of Mr
Justice S. B. Sinha, Mr Justice S. H. Kapadia and Mr Justice D. K. Jain
said in investigation of criminal cases, the law “is clear” that the opinion
of the Investigating Officer (IO) in charge was final for filing of the
charge sheet. He is not required even to seek the opinion of the Public
Prosecutor as his role comes in the picture only for conducting the trial
after the charge sheet is filed.

In this case, the then CBI
Director (US Misra) without giving his opinion had not only over-rulled
the IO and the SP in charge of the probe but five other senior officers,
including the Additional Director, Joint Director, DIG, Additional Legal
Adviser and Deputy Legal Adviser, who had given clearance for filing the
charge sheet against Mayawati, her Cabinet colleague Naseemuddin Sidiqui
and others, the court pointed out.

It came down heavily on the
CBI Director, who in his status report submitted on December 31, 2004 had
sought the closure of the case based on the AG’s opinion. The court had
then sought the opinion of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which
said its role was only that of advisery in nature vis-à-vis CBI
in such matters.

Taking all these aspects
into consideration, the Court said neither the AG’s opinion, nor the CVC
advisory, would be sent to the Special Judge as he would form his opinion
entirely on the basis of the report of the IO and the evidence gathered
by the investigating team.

The Court expressed anguish
over the manner the CBI had dealt with the case and the growing tendency
of approaching the apex court in all criminal cases involving some important
persons. The premier investigating agency like CBI was expected to do its
duty honestly, otherwise the criminal investigation and justice delivery
system would collapse like a “heap of sand”, the Bench said.

The CBI had registered the
FIR in October 2003 against Mayawati, Siddiqui, former U P Chief Secretary
D S Bagga, Mayawati’s Principal Secretary P L Punia, former U P Environment
Directors R K Sharma and V K Gupta, former Union Environment Secretary
K C Mishra, former National Construction Corporation CMD S C Bali and three
other officers for their alleged involvement in the Rs 175-crore Taj Corridor
scam. Mayawati’s Government had envisaged the building of the heritage
corridor behind Taj Mahal by digging the Yamuna bed without environment
clearance

Taj Heritage Corridor
(THC)Rajesh Chopra, LiveIndia.comNEW DELHI: The Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) has come out with a green plan to hide the ugly constructions
under the now shelved Taj Heritage Corridor (THC) project, originally planned
to link the five best monuments of Agra.

Accepting expert advice against
dismantling of the constructions carried out during the chief ministership
of Mayawati, ASI submitted a plan to the Supreme Court on August 26 seeking
permission to create a dense forest belt along the mud corridor. As per
the plan, the five monuments — Taj Mahal, Mahtab Bagh, Agra Fort, Itmad-ud-Daula,
Chini-ka-Roza and Ram Bagh — will be linked by a mud path with little or
no construction.

The greening of the area
to be undertaken by the ministry of environment and forest would be carried
out after removing stones and other construction material still lying at
the proposed THC project site, the ASI informed the Supreme Court in an
affidavit through counsel A D N Rao.

The greening of the area
will come at a cost to nearby villagers, who have been using the Yamuna,
which flows adjacent to Taj, for their daily needs.

The villagers, who have been
using the river from time immemorial for bathing their cattle, washing,
bathing and public toilet facilities, will have to be provided alternate
facilities, ASI said and sought a direction to this effect from the court.

"If this is not done, the
green belt and the green cover around the monuments will be endangered
seriously," ASI warned. It also requested the court to direct the authorities
to shift the cremation ground from the vicinity of Taj and encourage people
to use the electric crematorium.

The whole green area, which
will be an integrated complex having only walking tracks, should be declared
a part of the protected monuments of Taj and Agra Fort, ASI said aiming
to prevent trespassing completely.

Apart from increasing the
scenic beauty of the area, the green belt would give "excellent protection"
to the monuments from air and water pollution and also improve the air
quality of the polluted city of Agra, it said.

Rainwater harvesting in the
entire area would recharge the groundwater acquifiers to help bring up
the water table in the area, it said.